Axle.



No. 849,950. .PATENTED APR. 9, 1907.

G. A. WEAVER.

AXLE.

APPLIU ATION FILED APR.21 1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

WITNESSES INVENTOH W C z: E l 1 George $5.77am91f 7 ATTORNEYS PATENT ED APR. 9, 1907.-

G. A. WEAVER.

AXLE. APPLICATION FILED APR.21,1906.

2 SHEETS-SHBBT 2.

INVENTOH By ATTORNEYS GEORGE'A. WEAVER, or NEWPORT, RHODE'ISLAN'D.

AXLE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 9, 1907.

.App1ication' filed April 21, 1906. Serial No. 312,979.

To all whom it may concern:

i a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New ort, in the county of Newport and State 0 Rhode Island,have invented a new and Improved Axle, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to the axles of ve hicles. use with all vehicles, it is especially useful in automobile construction.

The object of the invention is to provide an improved arrangement for mounting the wheels upon theframe, which will enable the direction of the'wheels 'to'be easily controlled. e

A further. object is to rovide a strong axle construction which dispense with the usual steeringeknuckle and its accessories.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similarcharacters of reference indicate corresponding arts in all the fi ures.

Figure 1 is a vertica section throug hthe frame of an automobile fitted with my axlef Fig.2 is a sectional view on the line 2 2 of- Fig. 1 and showing the inn'er'end of the wheel-hubin elevation. Fig.- 3 is an elevation of the outer side of the arm and hub with the cap-nut removed. Fig. 4 is'a plan of the forward-extremity of the frame of an automobile, representing the axle with the wheels set as in steering the machine toward the right; and Fig. 5 1s a sectional view at the ri ht-hand hub.

Re errin more particularly tothe parts, and especia 1y to Fig. 1,-8 represents a frame, supported upon a transverse forward axle 10. The. rojectingextremities of this axle are bent own at an angle, as indicated, to form inclined arms 11. arms, as indicated in Fig. 5, I mount a bushing 12, provided with a bore12, which receives t earm 11, as shown, the said bore being inclined with respect to the axis of the bushing. Near itsinner extremity the arm 11 is provided with a collar 13, against which the extremity of .the bushing 12 abuts, as

shown, and, the bushing'is retained in position by means of a suitable axle-nut 14. The outer extremity of the bushing 12 is restood that the ,bushing 12 is of cylindrical orm, its face being provided with a circum- While the invention 'is capable of On-each of the said e v ferential groove or raceway 12*, which re- Be it known that I, GEORGE A. WEAVER,

ceives a plurality of rollers 15, said rollers being retained in position by the hub 16 of the wheel. The inner extremity of the hub 16 abuts against a collar 17, which is formed so as to projectlaterally fromthe bushing, as shown, and the ca nut 18 projects,.as indicated, so that it a ords means for retaining the wheel-hub, as will be readily understood. Upon the inner face of the bushing-12 a lever -19 is attached rigidly, and thislever.

affords-means for holding the bushingl2in any desired positionu on ,thearm 11, it

being understood that t ebushing is loosely mounted on the arm.

The normal position, of the arms 11 is such I that they project downwardly, their axes being disposed in a vertical plane, as in Fig. 1. The normal position' of the bushing W1th:I- spect to the arm is shown in Fig. 5 in dotted outline, at which-time the geometrical axis of the bushing is horizontal and of course parallel with the body of the axle: When the parts are in this relation, evidently the wheels 24 will be disposed in a front and rear direction. the right, the lever 19 is moved toward a for- .ward'position', as indicated in Fig. 4 at the right, so as to bring the bushing12 toward the position indicated in Fig. .5 infull lines. In this way its eccentricity or obliquity throws the wheel toward the right. It should be understood that the operation just described applies to the arm 11, which is disposed at the right of the frame. The operation at the opposite side of the frame is reversed of course, the lever 19 at that side being rotated in an opposite direction to the lever 19 at the right. Evidently the-change in direction of the wheels 24 will be propor+ tionate to the amount of rotation of the bush- With the construction just described the axle 10 is made in one unbroken piece. I may provide a construction which enables the side or angular movement of the wheels to be increased'over that derived from the simple arrangement referred to above. Such aconstruction is shownin Fig. 4. The axle ismade intwo alining sections 10 and 10 united by a coupling 9-, so that the twoaxlesections are free to rotate. independently.

Inorder to direct the machinetoward Levers-20;areattached rigidly by set-screws 21 to the 'axle-sections-1()and "10", respectively. To direct the vehicle toward the right, the axle-section lOf isrotated so that the arm 11- thereof pmje'cts rearwardly; If-the lever '19 at this'side is previously thrown forward, the change of-direction due to that movement is added to the first, so that a displacement, such as that shown 1n Fig. 4, re: sults. At the left ofthe vehicleof course the directions of movement for the levers'are.

reversed.

With the" construction described above evidently if the axes of the arms '11 'DI'GJBCt upwardly in a vertical. plane the Weight of the body of the automobile tends to keepthe wheels in a front and rear pos1t1on-'that 1s,

there is no tendency at least to rotate the;

Further-i arms .ll'ou't of a verticalplane. more, the wheels may be directed as desired simply by a rotary movement, and the-mechanism f or controlling the same dis .enses with the use of steering-knuckles, avoi ingthe dis advantages which are inherent thereto.

Although I have described the device as applied tothe front axle, it may be as readily ap lied to the rear axle in racticaluse.

aving thus describe my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent-- '1. In combination, a frame having an arm 'rotatably mounted thereupon, said arm being inclinedwithlrespectto the axis of rotation thereof on said frame, a wheel carried by said arm, and means for rotating said arm to ad"- 7 just the position of said WheeL: a

2. An axle having a rotatable arm, the axis whereof is inclined, a wheehmo'unted upon said arm, and means forrotatingsai'd arm to throw the axis thereof forwardly or rearwardly in steering.

3. axle having'anarm, theaids whereof is inclined to the body of said axle, a bushin having a bore therein receiving said arm, sai bore being inclined to the axis of said bushing, a wheelrotatably mounted on said bushing, and means for controlling the position of said bushing upon said arm. r

4. vAn axle having an inclined arm, a bushing having an inclined .bore rotatably mounted on said: arm, a wheel rotatably mounted on said bushing, and means for rotating saidarrn upon the ax'isof said axle:

5'. In combination, a frame, arms rotatably mounted in said frame on opposite fsidfes thereof and having their axesinclined'fiiith respect to the axis of rotation thereof, bush ings having bores respectively therein, in

clined with respectto .the axes-thereof and mounted upon said arms,-wheels mountedon said bushings, and n'eans forcontrollifig the position of said bushings and. said arms.-

6. In combination, a frame, an axle extending continuously in one piece fromone side to the other ofsaid frame-and su porting said frame, said axle'having incline arms at the extremities thereof, oushiltgs mounted upon said arms andhaving their axes inclined to theaxesof 'said' arms, wheels carried on said bush ngs, and means for rotating said bushings. a

In testimony whereof I. have signed my a name to this specification in the presence of two'subscribing witnesses.

. GEORGE 'A.'WEAVER. Witnesses:

' F. D. AMMEN,

Jivo. M. BITTER. 

